POTUS Signs FY18 Funding Bill, Finally
Friday, March 23, 2018
(National Federation of Federal Employees)
After a little bit of self-inflicted
drama, the president signed the FY 2018 Omnibus
funding bill to keep the government running
until September 30, 2018.
Next week,
discussions regarding the FY 2019
appropriations bill will start. On the
agenda, in brief, includes the president’s
proposal to freeze pay for FY 2019, billions in
cuts to pay and benefits for federal employees,
rolling back civil service protections,
reorganizing the government according to a plan
that remains undisclosed, and a systematic
attack on all federal unions to silence the
voice of dedicated apolitical government
employees.
“We have a lot of
work ahead of us,” stated Randy Erwin, NFFE
national president, “and every union member
should do their part now to grow their local
and solidify their relationships with their
U.S. representatives and senators because these
relationships will prove critical later this
year.”
The FY 2019 proposal from the
president’s budget requested between $200 and
$300 billion in cuts to federal employee pay
and benefits over the next 10 years. In
addition, the recent release of the
President’s Management Agenda confirmed that
the administration seeks to make changes to pay
and workforce laws, with an emphasis on
destroying labor’s ability to represent their
members.
“They can silence us only if
we let them,” stated Erwin. “We need
to make our case to Democrats and Republicans
alike, and fight for the principles that
literally built this great nation. If
they silence us, there will be no one left to
speak for federal workers, and no one left to
defend Democracy from within.”
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VERSION (updated)
Correction: In our attempt to provide our members and interested parties with up to date information via our email blast on the afternoon of 3/23/2018, an error was overlooked. In our correspondence it was stated that the Omnibus spending bill signed by the president would keep the government running until September 20, 2018. In fact it will keep the government running until September 30, 2018.